Nurse Unit Vocabulary

Activities of daily living (ADL): Daily activities necessary to meet basic human needs, for example, feeding, dressing, and elimination

Acute: Lasting a short period of time but relatively severe (for example, an acute illness)

Ambulate: To walk

Blood pressure: Measurement of the force exerted by the heart against the arterial walls when the heart contracts (beats) and relaxes

Chronic: Lasting a long period of time; reoccurring

Diagnosis: Determination of the nature of a person’s disease

Diastolic pressure: Measurement of blood pressure taken when the heart is at rest

Edema: Swelling; excess amount of fluid in the tissues

Fever: Elevated body temperature, usually above 100 degrees F

Geriatrics: The branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease in older people and the problems specific to aging.

Hypertension: high blood pressure

Hypotension: low blood pressure

Malpractice: Providing improper or unprofessional treatment or care that results in injury to another person

Pediatrics: The branch of medicine dealing with care and treatment of diseases and disorders of children

Pulse: Pressure of the blood felt against the wall of an artery as the heart contracts or beats

Pulse Oximeter: A device that measure the oxygen level in arterial blood

Respiration: The process of taking in Oxygen (inspiration) and expelling Carbon Dioxide (expiration) by way of the lungs and air passages

Sphygmomanometer: Instrument calibrated for measuring blood pressure in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg)

Stethoscope: Instrument used for listening to internal body sounds

Systolic pressure: measurement of blood pressure taken when the heart is contracting and forcing blood into the arteries

Temperature: The measurement of the balance between heat lost and heat produced by the body. (97-99 degrees F is normal)

Vital signs: Measurements of the body’s most basic functions that provide information of the body conditions (Temperature, pulse, respirations, and blood pressure)